We Tested 7 Fire Escape Ladders, and These Are the Ones We Trust in Our Own Homes

March 3, 2025

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PHOTO: The Spruce

House fires create a confusing and frightening environment where every moment counts, which is why we recommend the Isop Fire Escape Ladder with its lightweight design and straightforward setup over all the other options we tested. This ladder impressed us with a short deployment time, and we love that it’s re-packable so you can practice without buying additional ladders.

When we tested this fire ladder, we were impressed with how easy it was to store under a bed, pull out, and deploy. We were able to retrieve and set it up in just under a minute on our very first try. We then cut that down to 44 seconds on our second attempt, despite introducing foggy glasses and other distractions, coming very close to the time of our fastest setup pick.

This ladder unrolled very smoothly when we dropped it out of a window, with no tangling, twisting, or clattering. We like that there are a few different ways you can choose to attach it (including semi-permanent installations), but we noted that the carabiners require significant effort to attach, so it might not be the best choice for small children and elderly individuals.

The weight limit is 470 pounds, so it can support two people at once. We tested it with 168 pounds and didn’t notice any strain or stress at all on either the rungs or webbing. When we rolled it back up, we noted that it was easy to store back in the included bag and slide back under the bed.

This is a 13-foot ladder for 2-story homes, but Isop sells 25 and 32-foot options as well, so make sure to choose the one that’s right for your house.

_{Length: 13 feet | Material: Powder-coated aluminum, polyester | Weight Capacity: 470 | Warranty: Not listed | Ladder Weight: 4.4 pounds}

Table of Contents

Tips From Our Experts

Harrington tells us that homeowners should consider certain questions before choosing a fire escape ladder.

Does the ladder fit the window it will be used in?
Can the user handle the weight of the ladder comfortably?
Can you reuse the ladder for practice, or is it single-use only?

A person holds the X-IT Emergency Fire Escape Ladder

PHOTO: The Spruce

What We Like

Lightweight and easy to handle
Exceptionally quick deployment
Design provides good footing
Compact for easy storage

The X-IT Escape Ladder was the easiest and fastest to deploy out of all the fire escape ladders we tested, with a compact storage bag and lightweight design that’s easy to handle. It’s light enough for children to handle and easy to repack after practicing with it, so we think it’s a good option for families with younger kids.

We were able to retrieve and deploy this ladder in just 40 seconds with no prior practice and then cut that down to 36 seconds on the second attempt while wearing fog glasses. That’s the fastest of any fire escape ladder we tested, beating our overall best recommendation by almost 20 seconds for the initial test.

This is a lightweight ladder with aluminum rungs and durable nylon webbing, with a total weight of just five pounds for the 13-foot 2-story model that we tested. It’s rated to withstand up to 333 pounds, and we didn’t notice any stress or strain under a 200-pound load.

This ladder did feel less robust than some others (we felt like it might not be stable in high winds), but we like the way the design holds the rungs away from the wall to provide more solid footing.

_{Length: 13 feet | Material: Nylon, aluminum | Weight Capacity: 333 pounds | Warranty: 10-year limited | Ladder Weight: 5 pounds}

The First Alert EL52 Two-Story Fire Escape Ladder inside a cardboard box

PHOTO: The Spruce

What We Don’t Like

Heavier than others
Can get tangled
Repacking is difficult

The First Alert EL52 Two-Story Fire Escape Ladder impressed us during testing with its heavy-duty design, easy storage, and quick deployment time. It’s the heaviest 2-story ladder we recommend, so it isn’t the right choice for everyone, but we do love the study steel construction.

This ladder has a storage box that we were able to slide under a bed for testing and pull out fairly easily. Getting it out of the box and deployed took about a minute (despite needing to untangle it a bit), which is the same as our overall best recommendation. For the second attempt with distractions, we were able to cut that down to 50 seconds.

We like that this fire escape ladder is reusable, but we had some trouble getting it back into the storage box without it tangling up. It also tangled up a little each time we deployed it, so we recommend practicing with this one until you feel confident about handling it in an emergency.

Lightweight fire escape ladders like our recommendation for fastest setup usually use aluminum for the rungs, so this one steel option stands out. It feels really solid (we don’t think it would blow around in the wind), but it’s also twice as heavy.

It’s also a little more difficult to handle due to the extra weight, but the study design and lower price (it’s typically available for about half the price of our overall best) make it worthy of consideration if you can handle a heavier ladder.

_{Length: 14 feet | Material: Steel, nylon | Weight Capacity: 375 pounds | Warranty: 6 years | Ladder Weight: 13 pounds}

The ISOP 16ft Fire Escape Ladder rolled up under a bed

PHOTO: The Spruce

What We Don’t Like

Hooks not included
On the heavy side

If you’re looking for a fire escape ladder that you can install permanently, our favorite is the Isop Fire Escape Ladder. We tested it like all the others—stored under a bed in the included bag—and it took longer to get out than any of our other recommendations, but we think it’s ideal for a permanent installation.

The first time we tried this ladder, it took us almost three minutes to retrieve it from under the bed, remove it from the storage bag, connect it to the anchors, and deploy it through the window. That’s the longest of any we tested, but we got it down to under one minute on the second try (underlining why practicing with a fire escape ladder is so important). Our fastest time, with foggy glasses to simulate smoke, only took 41 seconds.

This ladder is a little heavy, at almost nine pounds, so it’s a little harder to handle than other ladders we tested. It’s perfect for permanent installations though, since you can install eyelets under your window, connect the ladder, and then leave it there in the storage bag until it’s needed.

Permanent installation also saves time since you don’t have to secure the ladder in place, and the high weight limit is good for any room where multiple people sleep since it can support more than one climber at a time.

Our overall best and fastest setup picks are better if permanent installation isn’t an option since they’re lighter and easier to handle. If permanent installation is available, we think this one is ideal.

_{Length: 16 feet | Material: Nylon, composite | Weight Capacity: 2,000 pounds | Warranty: Not listed | Ladder Weight: 8.8 pounds}

Final Verdict

The Isop Fire Rescue Ladder is the best overall fire escape ladder. It’s lightweight but durable, easy to deploy, and convenient to store. If you can handle a heavier ladder, the First Alert EL52 Two-Story Fire Escape Ladder (our best 2-story pick) felt very durable and well-made during testing, with anti-slip steel rungs and stabilizers to provide excellent footing.

Other Options We Tested

Kidde Two-Story Fire Escape Ladder: When we tested this fire escape ladder, we were impressed with the sturdy design and how well it fit under the bed. It’s about the same weight as our best permanent pick, but it has zinc-plated anti-slip rungs and nylon straps. The mounting hardware was a little confusing to use, so we don’t recommend it for children, but the main reason we prefer other options is that it’s single use.

How We Tested the Fire Escape Ladders

We attached the fire escape ladders to a mocked up windowsill and timed the process.

The Spruce

House fires are extremely dangerous, with heat and smoke creating confusing situations, so fire escape ladders need to be easy to unpack and deploy. That’s why we tested seven roll-up fire escape ladders to see which ones were the easiest to use.

Ease of use: We placed each ladder under a bed and timed how long it took to retrieve, unroll, secure in place, and deploy through the window. For reusable ladders, we also re-rolled and placed them back in their containers, noting how difficult or easy that process was.
Accurate distractions: After re-rolling, we repeated the initial use test while wearing fog glasses to simulate smoke, with siren noises blaring to simulate the chaos of a house fire.
Weight capacity: In addition to these use tests, we also used a force gauge to simulate a load of 220 pounds on each ladder. With that load in place, we examined the ladders to see if the rungs or straps showed any signs of stress.
Overall value: With the information from those tests, we evaluated each ladder for design, portability, durability, and value.

Fast Facts callout with a “About Safety Ratings” header: We didn’t test for safety standards or ratings (the ATSM creates standards for fire escape ladders).(Cite)

About Safety Ratings

As a note, we didn’t test for safety standards or ratings (the ATSM creates standards for fire escape ladders).

What to Look For in a Fire Escape Ladder

We stress tested each ladder using forge gauges, and they all held up well.

The Spruce

The Right Length and Weight Capacity For Your Home

When choosing a fire escape ladder, the most important consideration is the height of your windows. It’s okay for a fire escape ladder to be a little too long (our best 2-story pick is 14 feet long), but it’s dangerous to use one that’s too short.

“A 2-story property needs a 13-foot ladder, a 3-story property needs a 25-foot ladder, etc. so the ladder can reach the ground during an escape,” Thaddeus Harrington, a public affairs specialist for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, says.

The lightest ladder we tested was our overall best recommendation, which weighs 4.4 pounds. We tested ladders that weighed up to 13 pounds, like our best two-story pick, and the extra weight made a huge difference in how easy the ladders were to handle. The heavier ladders were more difficult to unpack and harder to get out the window, but they also felt sturdier.

Weight capacity is another related consideration. Our recommendations have capacities that range from 333 pounds (our fastest setup pick) to 2,000 (our best permanent pick). Think about the weight of the person or people who will be using the ladder, and whether more than one person will need to use the ladder at once.

Durable Construction With Heat-Resistant Materials

A fire escape ladder provides a reliable means of escape in an emergency, so avoid weak materials like plastic that may get even weaker when subjected to intense heat. Our recommendations all use durable materials like metal, nylon, polyester, and heat-resistant composites.

The materials the ladder is made from also play a big part in how heavy it is. For example, our overall best recommendation weighs 4.4 pounds (with powder-coated aluminum rungs and polyester straps) while our best 2-story pick weighs 13 pounds (with steel rungs and nylon straps).

Convenient Storage with Quick and Easy Deployment

Fire escape ladders need to be easy to slip under a bed with an uncomplicated setup process, which is what our tests focused on. The ladder shouldn’t be cumbersome or difficult to handle, and it shouldn’t get tangled up and take a lot of time to straighten out when deploying it (our best 2-story pick required a bit of untangling, but the deployment time was still really fast during our tests).

It’s also important to consider how the ladder secures to the window, since some are more difficult to install than others. Our overall best recommendation was extremely easy to secure to the window and never tangled, even after repacking and reuse, which is a big part of why it’s our favorite.

One More Thing: Be Prepared and Have a Plan

Some of the ladders came with a storage bag, but the First Alert EL52 stores in a cardboard box.

The Spruce

Fire escape ladders are essential safety devices, but identifying and buying the best fire escape ladders for your home is only the first step. It’s equally important to consider where the ladders are placed, how they are stored, how they will be taken out and deployed, and additional safety features you might need.

Make sure that you have additional fire safety devices and that everyone in your home is aware of how to find and use these devices, along with a shared plan of what to do in case of a fire.

“A fire escape ladder is intended to supplement, not replace, the more important fire protection principles,” Harrington says. Additional precautions you should take include:

Store your fire escape ladders in each room of your home above the first story in locations that are easy to access, and make sure the entire family knows where they are and how to use them.
Place fire extinguishers throughout your home, and check or replace them regularly.
Install smoke detectors on every floor, especially outside sleeping areas and inside your bedrooms.
Work on a fire escape plan that includes two ways out of each room in your house and a safe meeting place outside, and make sure the entire family understands the plan.
Keep bedroom doors closed since that can slow the spread of fire.

Why Trust The Spruce?

Jeremy Laukkonen is an updates writer with over a decade of experience writing about fire safety equipment like smoke detectors, and other home goods and home improvement topics. His house only has one story (no need for fire escape ladders), but he’s owned and used them in other homes in the past.

For this story, he relied on our testing data to identify the best fire escape ladders, evaluating each for ease of use, quality of construction, durability of materials, and other factors. He also considered the advice of two fire safety experts.

Our Experts:

Thaddeus Harrington, Public Affairs Specialist for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Steve Jensen, the American Red Cross Scientific Advisory Council

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